WHIPPANY, N.J. — ABC News medical journalist Dan Childs has joined Bayer as director of external communications, with responsibility mainly for U.S. media relations.

Childs started at Bayer on Feb. 5. Most recently, he served as managing editor of the ABC News medical unit, a post he has held since October 2012.

Dan Childs

Bayer noted that Childs brings strong experience in visual storytelling, digital journalism and broadcast news and will serve as one of the top media relations professionals for Bayer in the United States. He reports to Christopher Loder, vice president and head of external communications for Bayer U.S.

“We are fortunate to have someone of Dan’s knowledge and experience in journalism and broadcast media join our Bayer team,” Loder stated. “Through his stellar work with ‘Good Morning America,’ ‘World News with David Muir’ and ABCNews.com, Dan has informed Americans about the most pressing health, science and medical news. He has a storyteller’s gift of taking complex information and translating it to a lay audience. Dan will bring innovation and creativity to Bayer.”

Childs covered numerous public health issues during his time as a producer and editor at ABC News, most notably the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the 2015 Zika epidemic, the Affordable Care Act and the opioid crisis in America.

Last year, Childs received an Emmy for his contributions to the network’s hospital and medical reporting following the Pulse Nightclub Massacre. In 2013, Childs shared in two George Foster Peabody Awards: one for his contributions to the reporting of New York City hospital evacuations during Superstorm Sandy, and the other for “Robin’s Journey,” a segment about “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts’ fight against myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), for which he coordinated ABC News’ social media efforts promoting the National Marrow Donor Program’s Be The Match Registry.

In addition, Childs serves as an adjunct lecturer at the Tufts University School of Medicine, where he teaches a course on health media messaging at the school’s Summer Institute.